East Java: Soo Teck Zhi marched into semi-finals at Indonesia International Challenge after pulling off one of the biggest upsets yet on the men’s side on Friday. The No. 7 seed, 20-year-old Malaysian defeated No. 1 Firman Abdul Kholik of Indonesia 13-21, 21-12, 21-13 in 78 minutes. This was Soo’s second career win over Kholik after he managed to beat the Indonesian at last year’s Malaysia Kuching International Challenge. In order to book a final berth, Soo will have to get past the Athens Olympic bronze medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro on Saturday.
The veteran Indonesian shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro was made to work hard before edging past No. 3 seed Malaysian Tan Chun Seang in a thrilling quarter-finals duel, winning 16-21, 21-19, 21-13.
In other men’s quarter-finals match, Polish Open champion Daren Liew’s dream of winning another title in 2015 came crashing to a halt in the face of an inspired performance from 20 year-old Jeon Hyuk-jin of Korea. The Korean proved too hot to handle for Daren as he swept to a straight-sets victory over the Malaysian with 21-11, 21-16 in 45 minutes. Jeon will play unseeded Reksy Aureza Megananda in the semi-finals.
Tee Jing Yi of Malaysia was forced to dig deep in her quarter-finals match where she needed 55 minutes to dispatch No. 6 seed Rusydina Antardayu Riodingin of Indonesia 21-7, 11-21, 21-16. Tee will face qualifier Kim Na Young of Korea in the semi-finals, while Hera Desi and Gregoria Mariska will set up an all-Indonesian women’s singles semi-finals clash on Saturday.
